The hokage and the pirate king
by alexrusso89
Summary: Set in an alternate shared universe inspired by naruto blood prison amd is also set before and after torn . Naruto is sent to lost souls prison a hellish prison on a island ran by a brutal cpu can naruto escape and will he get help from the soon to be king of the priates ?
1. Chapter 1

The prison boat, old, rickety thing that it was, slowly floated towards the dock which lead to the prison the dock was surrounded by the razor-wire , the waters around the island was said to be shark infested. He hoped not.

The tall, black building loomed ominously over them as the boat approached. It was a place of punishment, of confinement- supposedly to keep criminals like him locked away from society, so that the world could rest easier. It was ugly, gloomy, and oddly imposing- and it was to be his home for the rest of his life. The jury of blood prison didn't believe in anything other than life sentences for anyone who had abused chakra in e worst way. Like most others on the bus, Naruto Uzumaki had pleaded his innocence- truth be told, he hadn't actually done anything wrong. If anything, he'd been framed, this he was sure of it.

Not that anyone believed it.

"You bastards! Let me go!"

The boat was really close to the dock now , and Naruto heard the hushed whispers of his fellow inmates, as they drank in the sight of the prison with wide eyes. The big black tower cast an almost absurdly shadow over the waters near the dock , Walls of razor wire lined the sides, and towered into the sky, scratching the cerulean beauty with claws of steel. The blonde boy peered out the window, eyes defiant. "My God," the scrawny man in front of him said, "its inescapable."

And it was meant to be!, the massive fortress, everywher was lined with razor wire , there were several guard towers with armed guards, clad in a sickly green. They smirked as the boat trundled by, and Naruto heard the sounds of someone about to be violently ill.

The prison itself was made of stone, and lay on the edge of the island overlooking the bay it was situated in . There are many smaller buildings there were scattered along the grounds. A long and exhaustive set of stairs led upwards into the bowels of the castle, and what lay beyond was anyone's guess.

The boat shuddered as it bumped the dock , where several guards were waiting, firearms at the ready should any of them step out of line. Naruto gritted his teeth, as they all stood and shuffled awkwardly off the boat , and descended just as uncertainly. All of the people on the bus were ninja, just like him, and they weren't used to being shackled. Their ankles were chained together, so that they were forced to proceed in a slow, awkward gait, as if they were only just learning to walk. Their wrists were cuffed together, so that they couldn't make any hand signs and produce chakra, which was what they were in trouble for in the first place. The result was a sad, sorry line of around nine ninja shuffling obediently after one another, staring at their feet because the sight before them was too frightening.

Naruto glared at the back of the head of the man in front of him, his eyes angry. Rather than cowed by the prison looming over him, he felt nothing but anger. Anger that he was even here to begin with, anger at the village people who had condemned him without a second thought, but perhaps more importantly, anger at himself for letting himself be caught in the first place.

They all stopped suddenly. Naruto could see a guard addressing the head of the group, a young man with short brown hair and dark glasses. He seemed somewhat familiar to the blonde boy.

"You follow me, you got that?" the guard shouted. Glasses-boy nodded silently. "If I hear so much as a squeak out of you maggots, there'll be hell to pay!"

Glasses-boy nodded again, and they began shuffling again, their chains clanking and gleaming cheekily in the sunlight. Up the steps they went, in that same awkward fashion, and there were guards both in front and behind them. Naruto, towards the back, could feel eyes boring into the back of his head. He turned to snap at whoever was staring, but a violent tug from those ahead of him made him think better of it. As they reached the top of the stairs (the boy behind him was panting profusely- how someone so unfit became a ninja, Naruto would never know-), the massive, polished oak doors opened, and, with a jerk of their chains, the shamed ninja went inside.

It was dark. Naruto could see little at first, but, as his eyes began to adjust, he saw that they were walking along a single strip of stone- the walls, if you could call them that, were hundreds upon hundreds of cells, most of which were filled. Stairwells twisted upwards, where yet more cells waited. There were more guards here, and they watched the procession of new additions impassively, as though they'd seen it a hundred times before. Probably they had.

Those weren't the only eyes that were watching them, though. Curious, malicious, and even bloodthirsty eyes stared out from the darkness of the cells, and as they walked, some of them spoke.

"Fish! New fish!" someone squealed.

"We're reeling them in," someone else noted, somewhat sadly.

"What a sorry bunch," was another remark.

"Aren't they cute?" another cooed, which was perhaps scariest of all, "Oh, these fish are just so cute."

"This way," their leading guard said, sounding bored, taking them through the halls of cells, and out into what appeared to be a courtyard. The sun twinkled in the sky, as though it was laughing at them. Before them stood more guards, as well as an old man wearing what appeared to be brown robes with a shawl. Half of his face appeared to be heavily bandaged, and his arm was in a sling. Dislike rose up in Naruto like a snake; he knew that this man meant trouble, whoever he was.

The bored guard stopped them, and told them to face their left. They did so, chains clanking loudly. Naruto found himself staring directly at the bold fat man, and he quickly dropped his eyes, not wanting to look at the bold fat man longer than he needed to.

The woman to the right of the bold man stepped forward. Aside from the bold man himself, he was the only one not clad in the green of the guards- he was wearing black clothing His face was heavily scarred and twisted on one side, and his hair was close-cropped and dark. He glared at them, eyes smoldering dangerously. "Face the warden!" he snapped, "eyes forward!"

"Thank you, Obito," the warden rasped, "I'll take it from here."

"Yes, sir," the scarred man said politely, and when the warden's back was turned, his cowed smile turned into a terrible smirk. He stepped back, and his hand drifted to his waist- he was armed, too.

"So," the warden said, addressing them all directly. She had a presence about her , which was for sure- she radiated authority. "The fact that you're here is proof enough that you've all committed a terrible crime- t You've completely lost the trust of your respective villages, hurt innocent people , destroyed things Killed people , and for that, there is a price to pay."

"My name is Rei rights ," she continued, "and I believe in two things here at lost souls prison- discipline, and repentance. Here you will receive both. You've already met Officer Obito," she nodded toward the sneering scarred man, "and he is one of the many guards who will watch over you during your stay. Now, I want you to understand that you are all worthless. And dispensable," she added, letting a wry smile cross his face, and the effect was truly terrifying, "don't forget that. While you're here, your ass is mine. Any questions?"

"Yeah, when do we leave?" the fat boy next to Naruto asked. His hair was short and brown and there were swirls inked into his cheeks.

The silence was deafening. The air could have been cut with a knife.

Rights met Obito's eyes briefly, and inclined her head slightly. The scarred man grinned nastily, and jammed his knee cap deep into the fat boy's gut. "Oof!" he groaned, face twisted in agony. Obito jabbed at him again, this time hitting his chest- the sound of the bone hitting flesh made all the ninja wince.

Obito withdrew , and leaned in to the groaning boy. "You leave when we say you leave , fat ass!" he roared. "You jump when we say you jump, and you shit when we say you shit!"

"JP aka beetlemon," rei said, smiling in a twisted way, "I should have known. Captured for causing a revolution in the digital world , well you'll get on with the other prisoner from there ." She shook her head, still smiling, as though she couldn't believe someone could be so stupid. SHe moved down the line, stopping at Naruto. "And you're the Uzumaki boy. Captured for trying to kill the kazekage with a well-timed rasengan. My, my-"

"I was framed!" Naruto shouted desperately into Rei's face, horribly aware that Obito was looming behind the warden, longing to beat him into submission, eyes glittering malevolently. "I don't belong here!"

Rei cocked her head, amused. "Framed, you say?" She said, and laughed gently. Obito and the other guards snickered. Naruto ignored them.

"Yes!" he yelled furiously, even managing to stamp his foot, "I don't have time for this! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Ah, you see, that is where I disagree with you, Naruto," Rei said, her lips curled into a bemused grin, "You have done something wrong- something terribly, terribly wrong."

"I didnt even do anything " Naruto bellowed. Jp , the one who had been hit in the stomach, nudged him worriedly and told him to shut up, but Naruto ignored him. "You bastards! How can you-"

He was suddenly silenced by a blow to his gut. While he'd been shouting, Obito had crept closer and jammed his fist into the boy's stomach. "Shut up," Obito said, sounding bored, and hit him again for good measure. Naruto couldn't breathe. He sank to his knees, gasping, tightness in his chest, blue lights winking in front of his eyes.

"On your feet," he heard Obito snarl, and, grimacing, he stood up, swaying slightly. Obito had absolutely winded him, and it hurt like a sonofabitch. Naruto considered letting the warden what exactly his deranged guard had done, and thought better of it. Rei had seen- had probably even ordered it.

The blonde boy looked up, to see Obito's eyes boring into his own. They were dark tunnels that seemed to go on forever, menacing, full of hatred. "Got anything else to say?" the man asked softly, "because I would just love to sink my fist into your gut again."

Naruto shook his head frantically, furiously, the pain in his chest not quite gone. Furious but cowed for the moment, he averted his eyes, and stared at his chained ankles, until Rei commanded their absolute attention.

"I have just one more thing to say to you boys," she said, still smiling in that twisted way, "and that's welcome to Hell."

XxX

Obito took charge of them next, accompanied by six or seven more guards- not that the malicious scarred man needed them- they were all terrified by his mere presence. "This way, ladies," he sang, leading them not through the cells as they had expected, but down another hallway, deeper into the prison. Here the walls and floor were of stone. Passing through them, it was more depressing than seeing the future cellmates cooing and hissing at you through the bars, because there was- well, NOTHING. It was empty, drab- devoid of any colour at all. There weren't even any decorations of any sort.

"A guy could go crazy wandering around in this place," the scrawny boy in front of Naruto remarked quietly. He was of an unruly sort, with a mop of brown hair and had an x scar on his chest , people said his name was Monkey D. Luffy but that couldnt be true after all Monkey D. Was meant to be the pirate king.

Obito chuckled at the head of their line, and the guards sniggered along with him. They kept walking, until at last they stopped. The door was shut, and on it was a small silver plaque that simply read, 'infirmary'. It was clear from the rummaging and hushed whispers that there was someone inside. Obito rapped smartly on the door twice, and ordered them in, leering at them, his scars made more obvious and terrible in the half-light. They wasted no time in making their way into the infirmary.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" the nurse said, turning away from her current patient, a youth that was mumbling to themselves, arms laced with bandages, and she smiled at them. She was pretty enough, Naruto thought, with chocolate-brown hair cut into a neat bob, warm lavender eyes, plump lips, and a heart-shaped face. Purple stripes adorned her cheeks. "New inmates, Obito?"

"Yeah," Obito rasped, and gave her a devilish grin. It did not escape any of them that his eyes flickered briefly to her chest, and back to her face again. "They're here to be immunized."

"I see." The nurse moved away from Obito, and began rummaging around in a leather backpack. "Line them up for me, please."

"You heard the nurse," Obito barked, "into line!"

They did so silently, awkwardly, most of them unable to keep their eyes off the pretty nurse, who wore a tired smile. She raised her now gloved hands, and showed them the entire gigantic syringe, which was full of a suspicious-looking liquid.

"What's that?" JP asked.

"It's a relaxing agent," she replied, "to make your first few days at lost souls smoother."

From the way Obito was leering at them, Naruto figured she was lying, and was amazed that she expected them to believe her. Yet each of the ninja held their arms out willingly, and sighed contentedly as she administered the drug. It was as though they…wanted to believe that it was true. To them it WAS true.

"What is that, really?!" he demanded when it was his turn. Obito glowered at him, but said nothing for the moment. She sighed.

"Please stay still. You don't want me to break the needle off in your arm, do you?"

"No, but I want to know what the hell you're putting in my arm first," Naruto growled.

"It's a drug preventing the-" she began to say, but Obito cut her off sharply.

"Nurse Hyuga! What did Rei Rights say? No telling the prisoners what's in there," he hissed, and the nurse blanched.

"Of course," she whispered, "I forgot my place."

Naruto stood his ground, and glared. "I don't need any stupid drug to keep me under control," he shouted, "I'm not crazy, and you can't MAKE me take anything I don't want to! I know my rights, damn it!"

Both Obito and Nurse Hyuga stared at him, her expression one of sadness, his of amusement. Naruto had a feeling most of the other ninja were staring at him too. He didn't care. He wouldn't be injected with anything! He gritted his teeth, eyes bright and fiery. Inside of him, he could feel the Nine-tails growling in disgust, yearning to burst forth and rip them all open. Naruto could not quite describe the sensation. It was like he had a ball of fire inside his chest, one that writhed and burned and yowled for conflict, to draw blood. It flickered and surged deep inside him, and he could literally feel his innards burning inside him.

It was his darker half, and he wasn't about to let it out.

Obito began laughing. "Your rights," he gasped, chest heaving frantically, "your rights. You make me laugh, boy!"

"What's so damn funny?!" Naruto yelled furiously, stamping his foot in anger. His chains rattled noisily. Obito stopped laughing. His features became ugly once more, his scars appearing white in the half-light, in stark contrast to a face that had been burnt by the sun.

"In here you have no rights," he said simply, and punched him in the stomach for good measure. All the air went out of Naruto's lungs. He doubled over, gasping. White-blue stars appeared in front of his eyes.

He felt something cool and metallic brush against his neck, and he tried jerking away, but Obito held him tight, callused hands biting deep into the boy's arms until he had no choice but to let Nurse Hyuga prick him. Because he was focused on it, Naruto rather thought he could feel the point of the needle slice into his flesh, like melted cheese, and regurgitate its' toxic innards into his bloodstream. It was probably just his thoughts running away with him in his panic, but he thought he could FEEL the liquid oozing into his blood- staining what was natural and good with its' poison. He imagined it as some sort of dangerous drug, seeping through his veins and leaving them frozen, useless. He shivered, as that ball of fire inside him suddenly flickered and died.

"There," nurse Hyuga said approvingly, "that should do it."

There were no words to describe how Naruto felt. He felt vulnerable, weak; it was as though he'd been violated in some terrible, unspoken way. He couldn't lay a finger on it just yet, though. What had happened?

"Wh-what happened?" he murmured. All he received in return was a nasty grin from Obito.

Then he suddenly realised what had happened.

He tried to draw chakra from the Nine-tails, to summon that ball of fire. Nothing happened. He tried again. Nothing. "Wh-what the hell!" he bellowed, trying once more in vain to draw energy from his fireball, but it remained frozen and unresponsive.

He could do nothing but stare, eyes wide, at his trembling hands. They'd cut off his chakra supply. They'd practically castrated him. "Y-you're an evil bastard," he muttered to Obito, who smirked at him, "you're evil and I'll get you for this…"

"Sure," the scarred guard yawned, rolling his eyes. He turned to the nurse. "I won't always be here to handle pieces of shit like this," he nodded towards Naruto, who kept staring at his hands, bewildered, "you better be prepared next time."

She nodded, choosing to ignore his mild threat, and disappeared, apparently off to collect some uniforms. Obito watched her go, his expression tender. When she was gone, his face turned hard once more. "All right," he barked, "while Nurse Hyuga is busy collecting your uniforms, I want you all to jump on the spot." When none of them moved, he pointed. " What are you shitheads waiting for, a bloody invitation? FUCKING MOVE!" he roared, and they all jumped.

XxX

"What was all that about?" Naruto muttered. Obito snickered.

"It's to detect whether any of you were stupid enough to smuggle weapons in," he said tartly, and visibly brightened when Nurse Hyuga returned. In her arms was a pile of grey clothes.

"Here are your uniforms," she said, eyes kind, "put them on, please."

XxX

Once they were dressed (the uniform had consisted of grey pants, a white undershirt, and a grey jacket emblazoned with their prisoner number), Obito marched them from the infirmary and to their respective cells. They were still chained together in a line, but if anyone felt even a fraction as bad as how Naruto felt at that moment, they wouldn't be able to muster the energy to run away or fight.

Which absolutely had been their intention.

As they reached the cells, they were greeted by catcalls. Prisoners shook the bars fiercely, eyes alight with malice as they called to the newcomers.

"They're back!" someone cheered.

"Sorriest lot I've seen yet!" someone else snorted. JP whimpered.

"Here, fish, fish, fish…" another voice whispered, nearly overwhelmed by the din, but for those who heard it, it made their blood run cold.

Obito would stop the line, unshackle a prisoner, and shove them inside, regardless of whether the cell was occupied or not. By the way things were going, it looked like they were all going to have a cellmate. As they shuffled past the cells, Naruto noticed that several prisoners had curiously-coloured bands on their arms- the man in the cell JP was going into had a bright yellow band on his arm. As the snuffling JP entered, his eyes gleamed mischieviously.

"Keep moving, princess!" the guard snapped, tugging on Naruto's chain, and the blonde boy kept going, oblivious of the fact that he was now the only one left.

"Give him here, Obito," someone rasped. Obito glared at them.

"Not on your life, asswipe," he snarled. Onward they marched, until, three floors later, they finally stopped. Obito gestured towards one of the other guards. "Open this cell. Hey, Spiegel," he called into the cell, "you've finally got some company!"

"Oh, goody," came the reply.

Naruto hardly felt it when the chains came off, and Obito shoved him hard between the shoulder blades, and he stumbled into the cell. "You'll pay for this," he snarled to the scarred man, "you'll pay, Obito!"

He just laughed, as he shut the door in Naruto's face.

"Ah…" the man in the cell sighed. Naruto turned and saw that he was lounging on the bed, watching him curiously. He was dressed in the grey and white of the prison, and was probably only thirty years old at best, but his spiked brown hair made him look much older. Though his lower face was covered with what appeared to be a bandana, the weary- almost tired- look in his eyes also gave the impression of someone old beyond their years. He had a scar running over his right eye. He didn't look particularly dangerous. All he looked was lethargic.

Now he looked at Naruto, and yawned. "Hi."

"Hi," Naruto mumbled, unnerved by the bandana. He stared at his surroundings- concrete cells, two cots, and a toilet- and then turned back to his cellmate. "Who're you?!"

"Names' Spike , Spike Spiegel," he said. His eyes now appeared alert. "And who am I sharing my beloved cell and cot with, may I ask?" His voice was oozing with sarcasm, but Naruto ignored it, either because he didn't care or because he didn't get it.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" he shouted, "and I'm gonna kill that sonofabitch Obito!"

"Ah…and I have to put up with you for the rest of my life…?"

"What?!"

"Never mind. Look, kid, you're gonna get yourself killed," Spike told him lazily, repositioning himself on the cot so he was more comfortable. He said it quite matter-of-factly, as though declaring someone's death was something he did frequently- who knew, maybe it was.

Naruto turned to him, eyes blazing. "What the hell are you on about?!"

Spike sighed, exasperated. "You don't know how prison works, do you?"

"If I'd known, I wouldn't have asked, asshole," Naruto growled. Spike laughed, a little sadly.

"It's that attitude that's going to kill you. You won't last a week." Taking Naruto's questioning look in his stride, Spike continued; "Look, kid, you can't just prance in here and yell about justice and killing people. If the guards don't get you…somebody else will. I've seen people like you come and go plenty of times. Most times they quieten down and learn their place…but, sometimes they don't."

"HUH?!"

"I'm not finished. If the guards don't get you for spouting that rubbish, the Akatsuki will. And believe me when I say this, if they get you, you'll wish you were dead."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Naruto was puzzled. Did this mean he had more to worry about, other than wearing a stupid uniform and sharing his cell with THIS loser? "What did this- this Akatsuki- do?"

Spike looked thoughtful for a moment. "Huh…well…I think the last person who annoyed them was sent interstate for having…a broken jaw, and…a crushed diaphragm, maybe? He was as loud and annoying as you, and he annoyed the wrong person…he did it with his bare hands. I think he spent a week in the hole for that little stunt. They're scared of him, see."

Naruto sat on the other cot rather suddenly. His mouth felt very dry. "What kind of place IS this?!" he spluttered. He imagined Spike smiled at him sadly; he couldn't tell, not with the bandana in the way.

"This," he said, "is prison. Welcome to Hell, kid".


	2. Chapter 2 it begins

" Hey, Wake up."

Naruto opened his eyes blearily, and yawned. He'd never technically been 'asleep'- how the hell he was expected to sleep with all the whispering and laughter, he'd never know. It had started when he and Luffy and JP and the others had first set foot in this place, and it hadn't stopped since. It had lessened somewhat when captain Obito and his cronies had passed by and called for lights out, but it had resumed once they were out of sight. There were whispers; hard to make out individual statements, but together, it was a large drone that irritated Naruto to no end. There were whispered threats, which were frightening but expected, and then there were the falsely sweet, sing-songs that were somehow more frightening than the threats. Somebody started crying.

Then the laughter began, and whatever small hope Naruto had had of sleeping vanished.

Combine that with his shitty lumpy mattress and pillow, and Naruto had spent the night with his pillow over his face and his fingers in his ears.

Now he sat up, still clutching the pillow to his chest. It was obvious he was exhausted. He was paler than usual, and bags hung under his eyes. He didn't have the same spunk that he'd displayed yesterday, and for once, didn't openly declare his wish to murder Obito.

Spike eyed him with amusement. "Rough night, eh?"

Naruto glared at the older man. "Just a bit," he said icily. He got up and stretched, his back cracking audibly as he did so. Somehow he'd ended up curled into a ball, and now his body hurt like hell. "Hey, when's breakfast? I'm starving!"

"Whenever they decide to give it to us," Spike said simply. Compared to Naruto, even he appeared well-rested. "You don't get to pick when you eat, you know."

"I hate this," Naruto grumbled, picking at his sleeve with perhaps more force than necessary, "I hate this whole being locked up thing so much."

"Gee, if I didn't know any better, I'd say we were in a prison," the older man said dryly.

Just then, the guards began bellowing for them to get back while they opened their doors. "You got your wish, kid," Spike said, taking the obligatory step backward while a stern-looking guard fumbled with the keys and started unlocking their door, "its chow time."

All the inmates were being filed into a single line in the mess hall, guards watching their every move. As the line got closer to the actual food servers, it was split into two lines, because of the huge number of inmates. Because they had been on the second floor, Spike and Naruto were towards the back of the line, Spike pairing up with a ninja Naruto had seen once before. He was tall, deeply tanned, with brown hair tied in a ponytail and a prominent scar across his nose. Looking at him, he didn't appear to be a criminal- he exuded an air of warmth, and upon meeting Naruto, his brown eyes were kind.

"New fish. Hi."

"Hi," Naruto said absently, gazing up at the line. They still had a ways to go before they were served, and by the looks of it, several tall guys up in front were haggling with the servers. Naruto couldn't see much of them, except one of them had blue skin. "How long is it gonna be?"

"Oh, I'd give it half an hour at this rate," Davis said amiably, actually sounding HAPPY about this, "that's actually pretty good time, especially with the-"

"Davis," Spike butted in, "enough." They shared a knowing look, which Naruto missed. He was still stuck on the fact that it'd be half an hour before he got anything to eat. This place sucked majorly.

"Sulking isn't going to make the line move any faster," Spike said, sounding amused as Naruto studied his feet intently. He hated wearing this grey crap. He wanted his trademark orange jumpsuit back. Aside from his jumpsuit, his headband had also been confiscated, along with all of his ninja weapons. Naruto wasn't a ninja any longer- amongst all these people in the same drab, boring clothes, he was just another face in a sea of strangers.

Hearing Spike's words, the blonde boy opened his mouth to unleash a number of witty retorts, but, incredibly, the line actually began to move. The group of men at the head of the line had moved on, apparently satisfied with their helpings. The blue-skinned guy was amongst them.

"Maybe it'll be less than half an hour after all," Davis said happily, Naruto nodding agreement. He was starving! He hadn't eaten in…well, a day. Basically nothing for your average ninja, but well, Naruto LIVED to eat. For him not to eat in a whole day, that was scary.

The boy's blue eyes lit upon a familiar face. "Hey, it's JP !" Indeed it was the stocky boy, a few people ahead of them in the line. He looked at no-one, choosing instead to stare at his feet. He was sweating profusely. If he heard Naruto call his name, he gave no sign that he did.

Davis sought him out, and smiled fondly. Like Naruto, JP had met Davis before. "He's a good kid," he murmured, and Spike snorted.

"A good corpse, you mean."

Naruto stared at the Brown- haired man in astonishment. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" he demanded, not caring who heard him. One of the big guys at one of the tables stared at him, expression perfectly smooth, before rejoining his comrades in a discussion.

Spike sighed in exasperation. "That JP kid, he's a dead man walking. Not just anybody gets thrown in with Kira…"

Davis groaned. "I didn't know that. Is he seriously in there?" When Spike nodded, Davis shook his head sadly. "That's too bad…he's such a good kid."

"Corpse," Spike corrected him, ignoring Naruto, who was quickly growing red in the face, eyes blazing.

"Corpse," Davis sighed.

Naruto couldn't stand it any longer. "Will one of you jokers tell me what's going on?! What's wrong with him?!"

"Nothing's wrong with him," Spike said softly, almost sadly, "he's just dead, that's all."

And he wouldn't elaborate any more on the topic. The three ninja moved up the line, and as they did so, Naruto caught sight of what was unmistakeably…well, a girl. She was tall and slim, with short brown hair that rested just above her shoulder blades. He couldn't see her face, since she was ahead in the line, but it was obvious she was female- no man could be that delicate, that feminine. "What the- there are girls in here!"

"Of course," Spike said, a bit irritated now, "this is blood prison, Naruto. Did you really think there were just male ninjas in the world?"

"I know there's girl ninjas as well," Naruto snapped, "but I didn't think they'd…you know…put girls in with the boys. Wouldn't there be…?"

"Rape? No. The women are only mixed with the men at mealtimes. We're kept separated, so rape doesn't happen."

"But-"

"Think about it, Naruto," Davis said, voice a million times kinder than Spike's, "they hate us. They hate the fact that we can produce chakra when they can't. They keep the men and women separated so there is no rape, so we can't…"

"Ah, I get it!" Naruto's face had been furrowed in concentration. The two men could practically see the cogs working in what little brain there was. "They don't want the girls to have babies," he said, almost proudly. Davis smiled and nodded, infinitely patient, but Spike merely stared at him like he was an idiot.

"Wow…" he muttered, turning away from them for the moment. They'd moved even closer to the servers now, and the brown-haired girl was gone. He couldn't believe that Obito had shoved this moron in with him…that man had a sick sense of humour.

Today's breakfast was some sort of grainy porridge, a cup of milk and a hunk of dried bread. Spike and Davis took their servings with thanks, but when it was Naruto's turn, he stared at the food in amazement. "What the hell is this crap?!" he exclaimed, "Where's the ramen?"

The server, a burly, stocky old man, glared at him, saying nothing. Spike ignored the situation and plonked himself down at the nearest table, evidently choosing to take no part in Naruto's antics. Davis, however, was of a nicer sort. He pulled Naruto away, hissing in his ear, "Just take it and go, Naruto!"

Naruto did so, albeit reluctantly. Davis sat down next to Spike, and, with nowhere else to go, Naruto sat down as well, Luffy was the last to sit at the table for four "This is actually pretty good stuff," Dacis said, trying to break the tension.

"Mm," came Spike reply. Naruto was still staring at his meal in disgust.

"Do I really have to eat this?"

"No, you can throw it away and starve if you really want to." Spike's good humour seemed to have returned with a few mouthfuls of porridge. "It really doesn't bother me either way."

Scowling, Naruto drank his milk, ate half of the bread, and poked his porridge cautiously. As he was about to take his first mouthful, he saw something squirming in it. "What the hell!" he shouted, actually jumping up in alarm.

"What now?" Spike muttered.

"There's- there's a maggot in my food!"

"You lucky bastard," someone growled from the next table. Davis tugged him down gently.

"Naruto, sit down. You're causing a scene, and in here, that's definitely NOT what you want." Sure enough, as the boy sat back down, his face now tinged with green, he felt eyes boring into him. Normally, he'd turn and snap at whoever was doing it, but these eyes weren't curious- they felt…almost predatory. It wasn't a good feeling, and Naruto finally shut up and ate his food, picking out the maggots as he went. Davis took them from him and put them in his own porridge. Naruto felt the room sway, and swallowed the vomit that rose in him like a great snake.

"So, what actually happens here?" he asked the two men. They were alone at their table,but they, for their part, ignored them, and Spike and Davis were only too happy to return the favour.

Spike looked at him thoughtfully. "Sometimes they make us work," he said, "but not often. They don't want us keeping our strength up, see. So mostly they let us outside- by 'outside', I mean out in the fenced area- and we entertain ourselves. Sometimes they let us in the recreation room, but not often enough, for my liking. I miss reading…"

"So we don't even do anything interesting in this hellhole?" Naruto was incredulous. He'd heard that lost souls prison was bad, but seriously…this was worse than anything he'd imagined. He thought that they'd at least be put to work, which was bad enough, but it would have least provided some menial thoughtlessness that came with simple tasks, and he could have forgotten he was here in the first place, but now…doing absolutely nothing, Naruto knew he'd be left with his own thoughts. And, Kurama or no Kurama, that was a dangerous place to be.

"It's not all bad," Davis said, trying to sound optimistic, but his voice was too cheerful, slightly strained, and it was obvious to them all that Naruto wasn't buying it one bit, and the scarred man dropped the act, "well, yeah. It's pretty bad. But you get used to it."

"Like hell I will," Naruto muttered, giving up on his porridge completely.

"You will," Spike said sternly, "or you won't survive here very long."

Naruto blinked.

After breakfast, they were once again herded into a line and told to follow captain Obito. So that was exactly what they did- if they tried to do anything different, there were numerous guards lining both sides of the line, and they'd beat up any offenders quite happily. So it was with some resentment that Naruto, along with the hundreds of other prisoners at lost souls prison, made their way outside to the 'recreation area'.

'Big fenced in area of absolutely nothing' might have been a better way to describe, for when they actually got outside, there was nothing. Naruto wasn't exaggerating, either. There was the traditional razor-wire fence, but inside that fence…was something like a field. There was no better way of describing it. Except the grass here was yellow and dead, and it crunched noisily under their sandals as they shuffled out into the open. There were no benches to sit down on, nothing to entertain themselves with- just, NOTHING.

As soon as the guards stepped away, that line dissolved into its separate cliques. Even as oblivious as he was, that much was obvious to Naruto. Small, weedy, lowly-looking ninja huddled in the corner, averting their eyes from everybody, trying not to stand out. Those same big guys that had spent so long holding up the line made their way to the other side, and immediately turned to each other, ignoring the rest of the world. Everybody else was in their own little world, doing their best to not cause trouble with the guards or other inmates.

Which left Naruto with a problem.

He had no 'clique', no 'group', so to speak. Hell, the only people he'd spoken to were Spike and Davis, and as he looked around frantically, he realised that they, too, had disappeared.

"Crap."

"Hey, new fish," a voice growled from behind him. Naruto spun around, fist raised, and blinked. The man standing before him was beyond creepy looking, but his voice had been friendly enough. He was taller and bulker then naruto he had a mask on looking like a black and white cat and dark eyes that seemed wild, dangerous. He smiled, and Naruto took a step backwards. His teeth were sharp!

"You look a little lost, fishy," this new guy said, leering at him, and Naruto felt his hackles rise up. Something about this guy pissed him off. "We all need friends in this place. I could be a friend to you." And he offered Naruto a bar of chocolate.

"What am I supposed to do with it?" he demanded. The man sighed.

"Take it, and you'll be safe. I'm offering my friendship to you, little fish." Naruto was sorely tempted by the chocolate, and this creep knew it. But the blonde boy withdrew his hand, shaking his head.

"Sorry. It looks real good, but I can take care of myself."

The guy's eyes flashed, and he bared his teeth- well, almost like an animal. "You'll regret not taking it," he snarled, and Naruto shrugged.

"I don't need an old man like you telling me what to do," he snapped back, squaring his shoulders- probably something this old asshole couldn't do. "I'll take care of myself, thanks."

The guy growled but backed down. He probably wasn't all that old, but his sickly pallor, combined with his grey clothes, made him look ancient. "The black cat pirates will get you," he rasped, "they'll beat a little runt like you to a pulp, and there'll be nothing you can do about it!"

"I'll take my chances," Naruto retorted, and stormed off. He was short tempered at the best of times, but he knew starting a fight here would likely result in him getting punched by Obito. He had no idea where he was going, but it didn't matter, so long as he away from that creep.

As it turned out, he marched straight into Davis. "Naruto," he said, sounding relieved, "we didn't know where you had gotten to."

"Don't lie, Davis," Spike said, sounding bored, "we knew exactly what was happening."

"Who the hell WAS that guy?!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air, "He was such a creep!"

"Keep your voice down," the brown- spike haired man snapped, glaring at the boy. His shouts had drawn a few curious glances, including several from the big group with the blue/grey-skinned guy. "Look, what just happened is totally normal. Happens to every new fish that comes in here."

"But who was he?" he demanded in a furious whisper. Naruto didn't like being told what to do by anyone. "He offered me a chocolate bar."

"Is it chocolate bars this time?" Davis sounded amused. "Back in my day, it was a packet of chips."

Naruto scowled at them both, wordlessly demanding an answer, until at last, Davis gave in. "Okay, that guy there is Buchi. He…offers 'friendship' to new fish, in exchange for…well, whatever he wants. That could be anything from doing his washing, picking out the critters in his food- or doing other stuff. And you have to pay him back double time."

"What do you mean?" Naruto whispered, sickened yet curious at the same time.

"Well…if he offers you a chocolate bar, for instance, then you have to give him two chocolate bars. Within a time limit. If you can't do it, he'll make your life hell until you can pay him back, or you kill yourself."

"What the fuck!" That was just nasty- low. Something he probably should have expected in a prison, but it surprised him nonetheless. "That bastard!"

"It's part of prison life, kid," Spike murmured, "happens everywhere."

"It's still not right," Naruto persisted, voice growing louder unintentionally, "that asshole should be-"

"What, locked up?" Spike asked. "He already is. I'm not sure what kind of world you've been living in, but this is prison, Naruto. Buchi is but a fraction of what you should be looking out for."

"Yeah, I'd grow eyes in the back of my head if I were you," Iruka said, almost sadly. "You're new- they'll want to figure you out, and you rejecting Buchi like that only makes them want to play with you more."

"Who is 'them'?" Naruto demanded. Spike sighed.

"You're not going to let this go, are you?" When Naruto shook his head, he sighed again, sounding tired. "All right, I suppose I can give you a rundown on our happy, happy housemates." He nodded towards the group of big guys at the other end. "That's the Black cat pirates. Or, part of it, anyway. I don't know them very well, thank God, but they're…well, they're like the mobsters here. Piss one of them off, and you've got all of them on your ass. And believe me when I say that you do not want one of them sitting on you." He winced at some past memory, and touched his eye gently.

"What do you mean, part of them?"

"Well…their leader is in solitary confinement. He's been there from the very start. No-one's ever seen him. But, judging by how much respect the group gives him when he's not around…he must be damn powerful."

"Wow." Solitary confinement from the start. That guy must have done something pretty bad to wind up like that.

"Yeah. Pretty scary stuff. Now, let's see…that group over there, is your typical Black cat wannabes. Buchi is what you call a general . So is that Ganta Igarashi kid. They suck up to the Black cats hoping for some kind of favour in return, or even acknowledgement, but so far, no luck. They're not as dangerous, but still…I wouldn't recommend pissing them off. Over there are your Suna ninjas, they pretty much stick to themselves. Issei there is your go-to guy. The green haired one is Buchi's brother Sham he's a bit punchy if you get on their bad side. Hmm…more fish, you can tell, they always wander by themselves or form a group, not the best idea…and then there's us." As he was nodding towards the 'fish', Naruto saw Buchi sidle up to JP, chocolate bar in hand. As they watched, JP took the chocolate, smiling, and they all groaned. When Buchi left, his fangs were bared in a devilish grin. The young, feminine-looking boy beside him smiled, somewhat sadly as they rejoined the 'wannabes'.

"Jesus, that kid is dead," someone said beside them, a lanky youth that Naruto couldn't identity. Naruto balled his hands into fists.

"JP, you moron!" he yelled, not caring who heard him, not even the Black cats, who were looking him over, amused. The fat boy ignored him, too preoccupied with gobbling the chocolate down.

Suddenly Davis and Spike bustled Naruto way from the fat boy, chattering about anything else. Naruto went, shouting obscenities, but eventually he went quiet when he realised that he wasn't getting a reaction from JP, nor from either of the two ninja hauling him away.

It was as though JP was already dead.

Naruto had gotten his first taste of prison, and he didn't like it.

Not at all.

"What do you think, Kira ?" Buchi said as he peered down at the young boy beside him, who looked more like a girl than a boy. A light voice and long hair didn't help it any.

"I give him a week," Kira said soberly, "at best."

Buchi grinned. "Heh, that fishy kid…he'll be a tasty snack. God knows there's enough of him to go around." They laughed a bit over that, and then the man murmured, "but that other kid…the one who refused the bait. What do you make of him?"

"I think he's…interesting," Kira said, after a few moments, "We may need to keep an eye on him, Buchi. He could be a threat."

Buchi snorted. "Him, a threat? Please." Though he outwardly rejected his student's advice, Buchi nevertheless made a mental tab to keep an eye on the little blonde fish. Maybe they could use him to their advantage should the need arise. Or punch the shit out of him.

It didn't bother him either way.


End file.
